Roll film camera



Feb.25, 1941. I W..BAUMGARTNER 2,233,238

ROLL FILM CAMERA Filed July 8, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 25, 1941. w.BAUMGKRTNER 2,233,238

ROLL FILM CAMERA Filed July 8, 1938 I I 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I 19 i MyenlorA for/7e y Feb. 25, 1941. w. BAUMGARTNER ROLL FILM CAMERA Filed July 8,1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Feb. 25, 1941 UNITED STATES- PATENT mmROLL FIIM CAIKERA Application Jul 8, 1938, Serial No. 213,175 In GermanyOctober 9, 1936 9 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in roll film cameras, and moreparticularly in roll film cameras of the type in which filmfeedingmechanism is provided which may be selectively set for feeding filmsections of large size and small size, so that large size and small sizeexposures may be made. One of the objects of the improvements is toprovide film feeding mechanism of this type in which loss of a certainlength of film is avoided when the said film feeding mechanism ischanged from the position for making large size exposures to theposition for making small size exposures or vice versa. With this objectin view my invention consists in providing means operative when the filmfeeding mechanism is changed from one position to the other forcompensating for the irregularity in the position of the exposed filmsection resulting from the previous film feeding operation.

Other objects of the improvements will appear from the followingdescription.

For the purpose of explaining the invention several examples embodyingthe same have been shown in the accompanying drawings, in which the samereference characters have been used in all the views to indicatecorresponding parts. In said drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the camera with the casing enclosing thefilm controlling mechanism removed.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on the line Fig. 6 is a sectionalplan view taken on the line 6-4 of Fig. 4, Fig. 7 is a sectional planview 1-1 of Fig. 4,

Fig 8 is a sectional elevation similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 3and showing the masks contaken on the line trolling the exposure openingin a different position,

Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 9-3 of Fig. 1,

. Fig. 10 is an elevation on an enlarged scale and similar to the oneillustrated in Fig. 4 and showing a modification,

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of Fig. 10, and

Figs. 12 to 14- are elevations showing a detail used in either one ofthe cameras shown in Figs. 1, 9, 10 and 11.

In .the example shown in Figs. 1 to 9 the cam era comprises a body Ihaving a lid 2 hinged to its rear side at 3 and formed with an inwardlypressed portion 4 forming an exposure chamber 5 and film spool chambers3 and I, the portion 4 being formed with a flange l1 providing anexposure opening I 8. At one side a casing 3 is fixed to the body I,which encloses the film controlling gearing, and within-the said casinga plate 9 is secured to the end wall I 3 of the body. To the flanges l1upper and lower masks II and 12 are hinged by means of which the size of.the exposure opening may be reduced, as is shown in Fig. 8. Within theupper chamber 6 a film fwinding spool l3 and within the lower chamber 51 a film delivering spool I4 is mounted. The film winding spool i3 isprovided with the usual key It, and the film delivering spool has aratchet-wheel l5 secured to its shaft, the said ratchet-wheel beinglocated outside the side wall It of the body I and within the casing 3.Within the lower chamber I a film guide rod I 3, and within the upperchamber 3 a friction roller 23 are mounted, the said friction rollerbeing formed near its ends with teeth 2| frictionally engaging the film22 trained thereon, springs 23 being provided for pressing the film intoengagement with the said teeth. To the outer end of the shaft 24 of thefriction roller 23-a gear wheel 231s secured which forms a part of thefilm controlling mechanism. The shaft 23 is passed through and guided inthe said plate 3.

0n the said plate 3 the film controlling mechanism is mounted, whichcomprises, in addition to the gear wheel 23, a film measuring disk 28connected with a coaxial gear wheel 23 and formed with a notch 33, alever 3| formed at its top end with a nose 32 cooperating with the saidnotch and at its bottom end with a nose 33 cooperating with the ratchetwheel II, a spring 34 tending to hold the nose 32 in engagement with thedisk 23 and to throw the nose 33 into locking engagement with theratchet wheel l5. Normally the said lever 3| is in theposition shown inFig. l in which it engages with its nose 32 the unnotched portion of theperiphery of the disk 23, while its nose 33 is out of engagement withthe ratchet disk l3. But when the nose 32 is in line with the notch 33the spring 34 turns the lever 3| with its nose 33 into lockingengagement with the ratchet disk I 3, for interrupting the film feedingoperation by means of the key It, as will be described hereafter. Thedisk 28 with its gear wheel 2! slightly projects at the margin through aslot made in the side wall of the casing 8, so that it may be turned bythe finger of the photographer.

The gear wheel 23 is adapted to be connected with the film measuringdisk ll and its gear wheel I! through either one of two trains of gearwheels of diiferent gear ratios one corre sponding to films of smallsize say 6 by 6 centimeters and the other one to films of large size say6 by 9 centimeters. The first train of gear wheels comprises a gearwheel I! which is rotatably mounted on a pivot bolt 38 secured to theplate and meshing with the gear wheel 23, a gear wheel 38 looselymounted on the said pivot bolt II and adapted to be connected with thegear wheel II by coupling teeth ll, a gear wheel ll loosely mounted on apivot bolt 42 and meshing with the gear wheel 3!, a gear wheel 43loosely mounted on the said pivot bolt 42 and formed with a segmentalslot 48 engaged by a pin 44 secured to the gear wheel ti, and a gearwheel ll loosely mounted on a pivot bolt 4' and meshing with the gearwheels I! and 20. Between the gear wheels I1 and 3! a coiled spring 41is located which tends to hold the said sear wheels out of lockingengagement with each other.

The second train of gear wheels comprises a gear wheel I loosely mountedon a pivot bolt II fixed to the plate 0, a gear wheel I! loosely mountedon the said pivot bolt II and adapted to be coupled with the gear wheelII by means of teeth II. and a gear wheel ll loosely mounted on atubular pivot bolt II and meshing with the said gear wheel I! and thegear wheel ll. Normally the teeth '3 are held out of engagement by aspring lll.

Within the tubular pivot bolt II a shaft 00 is rotatably mounted whichcarries at its inner end a gear wheel I and at its outer end a milleddisk 02. Within the casing I the said shaft has a controlling member inthe form of a substantially triangular disk I fixed thereto, and thesaid disk carries segmental cam members ll and OI which are adapted toengage respectively the gear wheels 31 and II for shifting. the sameinwardly and with their teeth ll and B in coupling engagement, Fig, 4showing the controlling member I in the position in which the cam memberit engages the gear wheel I! so as to couple the same with the gearwheel 30. and Fig. 1 showing the controlling member II in the positionin which its cam member I engages the gear wheel I and couples the samewith the gear wheel '2.

On the tubular pivot bolt I a ratchet wheel BI is loosely mounted whichis fixed to the gear wheel 84, and which is adapted for engagement witha pawl 01 mounted on a pivot bolt '0 fixed to the controlling disk It.The outer end of the tubular pivot bolt II is made integral with a camdisk I having a segmental portion of large diameter and a segmentalportion of smaller diameter. The pawl 81 is actedupon by a leaf spring10 tending to press the same into engagement with the segmental portionof larger diameterof the disk ll, and when the cone trolling member '3is turned from the position shown in Fig. 4 and in the position shown inFig. 1. in which the pawl i1 is opposite to the portion of smallerdiameter of the cam disk,

the said pawl engages in the teeth of the ratchet disk 88.

The gear wheel BI is connected through a train of gear wheels 12 and I3with a gear wheel 14 mounted on a pivot bolt 15 and formed with radialslots 18. The said slots are engaged by pins ll fixed one to a link 18guided with a slot I! on a pin 80, and the other one to a slide 59.

The said link 18 and slide '59 are formed with laterally projectingfingers 58 adapted to engage arms ll connected with the masks II and I2,and when the wheel H is turned in a direction for shifting the link I8upwardly and the s1ide i! downwardly the masks II and I2 are turned intothe positions shown in Fig. 8 in which they cover the top and bottomparts of the exposure opening it, so that small size images are producedon the film. When the disk 14 is turned in the opposite direction thelink It and slide 59 release the masks ll, whereupon the said masks areautomatically turned by springs 82 into the horizontal positions shownin Fig. 3 in which the exposure opening is unobstructed and full sizepictures are produced.

The lever ii is adapted to be retracted from the disk 18 by mechanismconnected with the shutter release mechanism. As shown, downwardlydirected arm of the lever is formed with a knee 9! which is formed witha finger 96 projecting through a slot 91 in the plate 9 and the sidewall of the body I into the said body. The base board I" is hinged tothe body I at 88. and near the said-hinge a shaft 99 is pivotallymounted on the base board at Illll. To the said shaft arms ill and I02are fixed, and the arm III is held by a spring I" in engagement-with thesaid finger I, while the arm it! is in engagement with a slide Illforming a part of the shutter releasing mechanism mounted. on the baseboard Ill. The said mechanism comprises a lever lll extendinglongitudinally of the base board and pivotally mounted thereon at "18,the said lever engaging the shutter release lever 109. A pin I llsecured to the tear or inner end of the said lever III has pin and slotconnection with an arm Ill connected with the slide ill. This slide istransversely slidable on the base board and it is provided with a fingerpiece H projecting through a slot ll. made in the base board. At itsrear end the slide H4 is formed with an upwardly directed sheet metalfinger i I? which is inclined upwardly and laterally of the base board.

In the position of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 9 in full lines inwhich the lever II is out of locking engagement with the ratchet diskit, the arm ll! is in the path of the said finger Ill, and therefore theslide Ill and the shutter release mechanism are locked. When. however,the lever It is thrown into locking engagement with the ratchet disk I!the finger "turns the arms Ill and "2 anticlockwise (Fig. 1), so thatthe arm Ill releases the finger Ill and the slide Ill, and the releasemechanism may be operated. when the finger H1 is then moved to the leftin Fig. 9 the arm Hi2 rides on the inclined face of the said fingerupwardly. and thereafter it is again turned downwardly by the springill: to a position to the rear of the finger. When the slide H4 isreleased it is shifted to the right in Fig. 9, and the inclined bottomface of the finger III turns the arm It! further downwardly.

engagement with the ratchet disk 15. The com 22 is retracted away fromthe disk 28 somewhat beyond the circumference 'thereof, and when thefinger li'l releases the lever M2 the lever 3| is turned by its spring34 towards the disk 2. so far that the arm I02 is slightly movedupwardly and into position for engaging the lower edge of the finger illand for locking the shutter release mechanism. 0n the disk 28 a plateI20 is rockingly mounted which is adapted to cover the notch 30 fortemporarily preventing the nose '2 from engaging the said notch. Thisplate and its function will be described hereafter with reference toFigs. 12 and '13.

The operation of the film feeding device is as follows:

The rear wall 2 of the body I is opened, a full film spool I4 is placedinto the chamber 1, the film backing paper is passed on the guide rod",across the exposure opening it and on the friction roller 20 and fixedto the empty film winding spool i2. The-film controlling mechanism isfirst made inoperative by turning the controlling member 63 by means ofthe milled disk 62 into an intermediate position in which its cammembers 64 and 65 are out of engagement with the gear wheels 31 and 50and the said gear wheels are disconnected respectively from thegear-wheels and 52. The film windlng key It is turned for winding a partof the lilm backing paper on the spool It, the camera is closed, and thekey is further turned until the first section of the film' is inposition at the rear :pf the exposure opening it, in which position thenumber i is visible through the usual red window. The disk 28 is set byhand into initial. position corresponding to the number I of the. film.In this position the nose 12 of lever it engages the notch 30 of thedisk 28.

and the nose 33 engages the ratchet wheel it thus locking the filmdelivering spool.

It may be assumed that at first a full size exposure is to be made, theimage having a size of say 6 by 9 centimeters. Therefore the controllingmember 62 is now brought into the position shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inwhich it couples the gear wheels ill and 52. The shutter mechanism isnow released for taking a photograph. because the lever Si is in theposition in which its nose 22 engages the notch 30 and the arm I02 hasbeen turned upwardly. After operation of the shutter release mechanismthe lever 3| ls retracted from the notch 30 and the ratchet disk I! andthe film delivering spool II are re-' leased, as has been describedabove.

Now the key I6 is turned for winding the exposed section of the film onthe film winding spool I} and setting the next film section intoposition for exposure. The film carries along the roller II by friction,and the rotary movement thus imparted to the frictlonroller istransmitted through the train of gear wheels 22, S0, 52, 54, It and 29to the measuring disk 28, the gear ratio of the said train of gearwheels being such that the lever 3| engages the notch 20 and the ratchetwheel l5 when the next section of the film is in exposure position. Thusthe film delivering spool I4 is locked and further rotary movement ofthe key It is impossible.

By the aforesaid movement of' the controlling member 68 into positionfor coupling the gears wheels 50 and 52 the disk II has been set throughthe intermediary of the gear wheels Cl; 12 and I2 into the positionshown in Fig. 3 in which the masks II and I2 are away from the exposureopening it. Thus the full size of the exposure opening is open, and afull size picture is made on the film.

If it is desired to change from a full size exposure to a picture ofsmaller size. the controlling member 63 is turned from the positionshown in Figs. 1 to 3 into the position shown in Fig. 4 in which thetrain of gear wheels 23, 50, 52, 54, 46 is interrupted between the gearwheels 50 and 52, and the train of gear wheels 23, 21, 39, ll, 43 and 45is closed by the coupling teeth 40. Thus, when the key it is againoperated for feeding the film through a length corresponding to a smallsize exposure, e. g. 6 centimeters, the lever 3i engages the notch 30 ofthe disk 28 and. the ratchet wheel l5 after a length of filmcorresponding to a small size exposure has-been fed. However, by theprevious lengths of the full size and small size film sections that isin the example of pictures of 6 by 9 and 6 by 6 centimeters, 1 /2"centimeter. The

transmission gearing permits such additional feed of the film by reasonof the pin and slot connection l8, 44 between the gear wheels ll and 43.By reason of this pin and slot connection the rotary movement impartedto the. gear wheel 23 by the film is transmitted at the beginning onlyto the pin 44 which travels through the segmental slot 48 to the endthereof, whereupon the I further movement is transmitted through thegear wheels 43,15 and 29 to the disk 28.

If the next exposure is to be made on a small size section of the filmthe rotary movement imparted by the film to the gear wheel 23 istransmitted to the disk 28 from the beginning of the film feedingmovement, because the pin 44 is already at the leading end of the slot48 and there is no lost motion. Thus the film delivering spool I4 islocked by the lever 2| at the end of the small size feed of the film.

If it is desired to change the camera from a small size exposure to afull size exposure the controlling member 63 is again turned into theposition for throwing the train of gear wheels 23,

50, 52, 54, 45 into operation. Now the rear end of the previouslyexposed film section is in advance of the rear edge of the full sizeexposure opening by one-half of the difference of the lengths of thelarge and small size pictures, and if now the film were fed a lengthequal to the length of a full size picture there would be a loss offilm. Therefore thenext film feed is reduced by an amount equal toone-half of the difference between the lengths of the large and smallsize pictures. trolling member 62 is turned from the position shown inFig. 4 in the direction. of the arrow 3:. Thereby the pawl 61 leaves theportion of large diameter of the cam disk 69, and it gets intoengagement with' the ratchet disk 66. Thus For this purpose the conthegear wheel 5 is turned in clockwise direc- I tion and such movement istransmitted to the gear, wheel 45 which imparts a certain lead to isalso transmitted to the gear wheel 43 which is thereby turned in thedirection of the arrow 1!.

Thus the trailing end of the slot 48 gets into position for engagementwith the pin 44, and

if thereafter the film controlling mechanism is again changed to smallsize exposures, the gear wheels 4|, 43 have a certain lost motion, ashas been explained above.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have shown a modification in which in addition tothe controlling mechanism described with reference to Figs. 1 to 9 adevice is provided for holding the lever 3| in non-locking positionrelatively to the ratchet wheel I5 while the leading and tail ends ofthe film backing paper are being wound on the film winding spool I3. Thesaid device consists of a cam disk mounted coaxiaily of the disk 28 andhaving a segmental portion 88 of large diameter and a segmental portion81 of smaller diameter, the nose 32 of the lever 3| having a breadthsuch as to engage not only the disk 28 but also the cam disk 85. Thesaid cam disk 85 is connected with a gear wheel 88 which is connectedthrough a train of gear wheels 89, 88, III and 82 with the gear wheel23. Thus the rotary movement imparted by the film in the said gear wheel23 is always transmitted to the disk 85, independently of the positionof the controlling member 83.

The dimensions of the cam faces of the disk 85 are such that the portionab corresponds to the length of the leading end of the backing paper,the portion b--c to the total length of the film and theilength c--a tothe length of the tail end of the backing paper.

When a new film is inserted the nose 32 engages the cam disk 88 at thepoint a, and therefore the lever 3| is held out of engagement with theratchet wheel I8 when the film winding spool is turned for winding theleading end of the film backing paper thereon and for pulling the firstsection of the film into exposure position. The nose 32 rides on theportion 11-17 and thereafter it gets into position radially of the saidpoint b. Therefore, during the following film feeding operations thelever 3I is controlled by the disk 28, as has been described above.After the whole length of the film has passed the exposure opening thepoint e is in position for engagement with the nose 32, and thereafter,while the tail end of the film backing paper. is being wound on the filmwinding spool the section 0-0 of the disk 88 holds the lever 3| out oflocking engagement with the ratchet wheel I8. 7

As far as the function of the disk 88 is concerned it is immaterialwhether full size or small size photographs are being taken.

As has been described above, the nose 32 of the lever 3| gets intoengagement with the notch 88 when an unexposed film section is inexposure position, and when the shutter releasing mechanism is operatedfor making an exposure the nose 32 is retracted. When thereafter thesaid mechanism is released and the slide II4 returns into initialposition the nose 32 would engage again in the notch 38, because thedisk 28 has not been moved, and therefore it would be impossible .tofeed the exposure film. Therefore means must be provided for temporarilypreventing the nose 32 from engaging in the notch, and for this purposethe aforesaid disk- I20 is provided, which disk has been shown indifferent positions in Figs. 12 to 14.

As is shown in Figs. 10 and 11 the said disk is located between the disk28 and the cam disk 88, and it is formed with a bifurcated portion I2Istraddling the pivot bolt 48a. Further, the disk is formed with a slotI22 engaging a pin I23 fixed to the disk 28. To one arm of thebifurcated portion I2I a spring I24 is attached which is connected withits opposite end to a pin I25 secumi to the disk 28. The slot I22 isdisposed angularly of the circumference of the disk 28 in such a waythat the disk I20 is slightly moved inwardly and towards the pivot bolt28 when it is turned anticlockwise. The outer edge of the disk I20slightly projects beyond the disk 28 and the cam portion of the disk 85.

When the disk 28 has been rotated by the film being feed so far that itsnotch 30 is near the nose 32 and into the position shown in Fig. 12 itsnotch 30 is covered by the disk I20. The disk I20 is engaged andarrested by the nose 32, be cause it slightly projects beyond thecircumi'erence oi' the disk 28. rotated, and the notch 30 is uncoveredso that the nose 32 engages the same (Fig. 13). Wheh the exposure ismade the lever 3| is retracted from the notch by the finger II! of theslide II4 so far that it releases the disk I20, which is turned by itsspring I24 in clockwise direction, and into the initial position inwhich it covers the notch 30. When the shutter releasing mechanism isreleased the lever 3I is turned by the spring 34 into The disk 28 isfurther engagement with the circumference of the disk 28. But it can notengage the notch 30, because it is arrested by the disk I20. Thereforethe film can be further advanced for winding the exposed film on itsspool and bringing the next film section into exposure position.

As long as the cam portion 88 of the disk 85 cooperates with the notch30 of the disk 28 the lever 3| can not engage the notch 30. But wheneverthe disk I20 gets into position for engagement by the nose 32 it isarrested while the disk 28 continues its rotary movement. But therelative movement of the disks 28 and I20 is limited by the slot I22 andthe pin I23. In order to prevent locking of the disk 28 by theengagement of the disk I20 with the nose 32 the slot I22 is disposed atan angle such that the disk I28 is moved towards the pivot bolt 28 andwith its outer portion away from the nose 32, so that it is releasedfrom the said nose and permits further movement of the disk 28.

I claim:

1. A roll film camera, comprising film feeding mechanismyand mechanismcontrolling the length of film being fed, said controlling mechanismincluding means adapted to interrupt the film feeding operation, amember operating said controlling mechanism and movable proportionallyto the film being fed, two selectively operative transmission gears ofdifferent gear ratios intermediate said member and means and severallyadapted to throw said means into operation for making large size andsmall size exposures, means for bringing said transmission gearsalternately into power-transmitting connection between said memberand'said means, and means operative when the said transmission ischanged from one gear to the other for compensating for the irregularityin the position of the exposed film section resulting from the previousfilm feeding opera- 2.-A roll film camera as claimed in claim 1, in

which the transmission gear which is operative when pictures of smallsize are made has two diiIerent gear ratios one operative when the 1transmission has been changed from large size from small size exposuresto large size exposures for imparting compensating movement to saidinterrupting'means in the direction tor throw ing the interrupting meansinto operation.

5. A roll film camera, comprising film feeding mechanism, and mechanism.controlling the length of film being fed,-said controlling mechanismincluding means adapted to interrupt the film feeding operation, amember operating said controlling mechanism'an'd movable proportion-'ally to the film being fed, two selectively opera- .tive transmissiongears of different gear ratios intermediate said member and means andeach adapted to throw said means into operation for making, large sizeand small size expomres, a hand operated member for throwing either oneof said on gears into operation, and pawl and ratchet mechanismconnected with said hand operated member and operative when thesaidgearsarechangediromsmallsise to large size for impartingcompensating movement to said interrupting means in the direction forthrowing the interrupting means into operation.

6.A roll-film camera asclaimedin claim 5,

' comprising a cam disk controlling the operation of said pawl andratchet mechanism and shaped so that the pawl and ratchet mechanism isoperative when said hand operated member is out of engagement'with saidgears.

7. In a roll film camera including film-carrying and film-feedingmechanism adapted to advance areachotfiiminextendedplaneiromoneto theother of two rolls. the invention herein described which consists of alatch adapted to enas control for gage and releasesaid film-feeding alatch,two linesorpoivertransand to impart'to the latch-control movementat dii'lerentwates relatively to the rate 0! film advance, a "maskmovable between an inoperative position and a position overlying in partthe reach of film extended in a plane, and means for simultaneouslymoving said mask between the two positions named and for bringing oneline of power transmission to operative position in alternation with theother.

8. In a roll film camera comprising fiim-ieeding mechanism, andmechanism controlling the length of film being fed, said controllingmechanism including means adapted to interrupt the film-feedingoperation, a rotary member operating said control mechanism and rotatingproportionately to the film being led, two selectively operativetransmission gears of diilerent gear ratios intermediate said member andmeans and severally adapted to throw said means into operation formaking large-size and small-size exposures, means for bringing saidtransmission gears alternately into power-transmitting con.- nectionbetween said member and said means,

and a cam disk rotatable in response to'and in co-ordination with therotation of said operating member'for holding said interrupting meansout of interrupting position, said holding mechanism being operativewhen the leading and tail ends of the film-backing paper is being ledand inoperative when the film is being redacross the exposure opening ofthe camera.

9. In a roll film camera that includes a filmwinding spool, afilm-delivering spool having a ratchet-wheel secured to its shalt. alever adapt- ,edto be swung to and fromaposition or engagement with saidratchet wheel, and a spring engaging said lever and tending to swingsaid leverand to hold it in 'ratche podtion, the

ling the position or said lever, such means includinganodiskandacamdiskmounted for independent rotation upon a common axis, thecamdiskhavingahighportionoiitspeitsperipheryoraradiuslessthanthennnotchedportion of the notched disk. andths beingadaptedtomakeabuimentnnderthesionotitsspringupontheperlpherlesofthetwosaiddisks,meanstoreflectingonemtatimof invention herein described ormeans for control-

